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During the latest tax season, the average wait time for taxpayers calling the IRS was nearly 25 minutes, which is double the amount of time of the previous year. Some days, fewer than 40 percent of calls actually reached a live person. In fact, the IRS hung up on about 8.8 million taxpayers during this year’s tax filing season, labeling the act “courtesy disconnects.”

Many small businesses are becoming more energy efficient because it’s the right thing to do for our environment. But did you know it can also benefit you as a business owner? The average commercial building wastes 30 percent of the energy it consumes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s a lot of money down the drain.

Some charities sound like great causes but turn out to be scams. While it’s important to help others (and it can even be helpful to you, come tax season) charity scams can turn a moment of giving into a moment you wish you could get back.

Participating in the judicial process is an important role. And most calls for jury duty result in little more than a day away from work, so it doesn’t necessarily disrupt business as usual when an employee gets called to serve. But what if jury duty ends up taking longer than a day or two?

If you’re a working business owner and don’t need to take Social Security at 62 (the age at which eligibility kicks in), you’re better off delaying. To put it simply: the longer you wait to receive Social Security benefits, the larger your monthly income from Social Security will be. But how much more can you earn by waiting?

The tax man cometh...to take a stand for taxpayer rights? Last month, the IRS announced a revised Taxpayer Bill of Rights in an attempt to correct a huge misperception: Forbes reports less than half of all taxpayers believe that they have any rights before the IRS; only 11 percent who know we have rights, know exactly what those rights are.

It’s often hard to compete with big business on salary and employee benefits when it comes to attracting great employees. But make no mistake: The quality of life one can receive working at a family-owned business is a bankable benefit. In fact, think creatively and you may come up with some unique “perks” that also happen to come with great tax savings to you or your employees. Here are some examples:

Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on “Golden Handcuffs: Passing Down the Business to Heirs.” Over the next few months, we’ll discuss ways to pass down your family business to your heirs. Some heirs may be active in the business, others may be passive; this scenario holds many challenges. In this post, we look at ways you can answer the question: Do Passive Heirs Deserve a Cut of a New-But-Related Business?

Most small business owners retire at around 73 years of age, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. From a financial perspective, what is your best retirement age? And can you beat these odds and retire younger? The answer differs for every business owner. Here, we take a look at three factors that can help you determine when your nest egg is ready to be tapped.

It seems every day there’s news of a data breach or fraud case affecting the sensitive credit card information of consumers and small businesses. There’s no doubt protecting your customers’ data is a big concern, but so is protecting your own. Even these seemingly small details can make a big difference when it comes to asset protection. Below are two considerations that may prevent your company credit card information from landing in the wrong hands, threatening your credit and financial security for years to come.

Expertise

When you hire Steven Bankler and his team of certified public accountants, you get seasoned, knowledgeable CPAs.

Rather than experienced bookkeepers, promising CPAs-in-training or studious interns in the process of completing their accounting degrees, you get professional CPAs. We Solve Problems. We provide creative solutions to our clients’ unique problems including tax and estate planning, forensic accounting, expert witness and litigation support.

Testimonials

For corporate professionals handling multi-million dollar budgets and VIP accounts, the day-to-day accounting can be daunting. “We sought out Steven because of his expertise with start-up capital issues. His team has propelled us forward... --Jason and Colleen Benavides, Bahama Buck's Leon Springs, Owners >>Read more

"The Bankler motto is true; we really have saved money. Steven helped us restructure and find smarter ways to do business. Other accountants will tell you, ‘I don’t see anything in the tax code that says we can do it.’ Steven will tell you, 'I don't see anything in the tax code that says we cannot do it... --John F Dini and Leila Dini, MPN, Inc., Owners >>Read more

Curriculum Vitae

Steven Bankler understands business. As a businessman who is also a CPA since 1977, his proven track record speaks for itself. View his detailed experience here:

Quoted Opinions

For over 30 years, daily newspapers, television networks and affiliates and prominent newstalk radio programs have published and broadcasted Steven Bankler’s insights on a wide range of forensic accounting and tax topics. His expert opinion is highly regarded in informing and educating the public, as well as judges, and juries on complex issues.